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/ 

SERMON 



ON THE 

REPENTANCE OF THE UNCHASTE WOMAN 5 

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH 

OF THE 

REV. JAMES SAURIN, 

Pastor of the French Church at the Hague* 
BY ROBERT ROBINSON. 



Peace, be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God St. Peter, 



TO WHICH IS ADDED, 



THE 

OF THE MINISTERIAL LABOURS 

COMMUNICATED TO THE 

Boston Society iox Ttaligious I?ur\joses 

BY WILLIAM COLLIER, 

AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 1823. 

BOSTON : 

PRINTED BY JAMES G. BOLLES, AT THE WATCHMAM OFFICF, 

Merchants' 1 Hall, 

1823. 






PREFACE. 

The design of this publication is to call the attention of the rulers of the peo- 
ple, and citizens of high standing in this Metropolis, to one of the greatest evils 
with which any country can be afflicted. And, if greatness of thought, force of 
reasoning, brilliancy of imagination, splendour of eloquence and ardency of 
devotion can interest an enlightened and virtuous community, Sauriri's Ser- 
mon on the repentance of the unchaste woman will not fail to produce that 
effect. It is recommended, particularly so, to parents and guardians of youth, 
and all good citizens, in the confident hope that we shall all remember the 
truth of one assertion in the sermon ; for God is righteous, that rt ONE SUCH 
HOUSE suffered in a city is enough to draw down the curse of heaven on a 
whole province, a whole kingdom." 



SERMON, 



THE REPENTANCE OF THE UNCHASTE WOMAN 

luke vii. 36 — 50. 

And one of the pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he 
went into the pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. A«id behold, a wo- 
man in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat 
in the pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at 
hi* feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did 
wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them 
with the ointment. Now when the pharisee which had bidden him, saw it, 
he spake within himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would have 
known who, and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him ; for she is 
a sinner. And Jesus, answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to 
say unto thee. And he saith, master, say on. There was a certain creditor, 
which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other 
fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. 
Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and 
said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, 
thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Si- 
mon, seest thou this woman ? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no 
water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them 
with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman, since 
the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. Mine head with oil 
thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feefwith ointment. 
Wherefore 1 say unto thee, her sin9 which are many, are forgiven; for she 
loved much : but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he 
said unto her, thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him, 
began to say within themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins also ? And he 
said to the womau, thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace. 

LET me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great: 
but let me not fall into the hand of man, 2 Sam. xxiv. 14 This was 
the request that David made, in the most unhappy moment of his life. 
A prophet sent by an avenging God came to bring him a choice of 
afflictions, / offer thee three things, choose thee one of them, that I may 
do it unto thee. Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land f 
or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue 
thee? or that there be three days pestilence in thy land? Now advise, 
and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me, ver. 12, &c. - 

What a proposal was this to a man accustomed to consider heaven 
as a source of benedictions and favours ! Henceforth he was to con- 
sider it only as a cavern of thunder and lightning, flashing and 
rolling and ready to strike him dead ! which of these punishments 
will he choose ? Which of them could he choose without reproach- 
ing himself in future that he had chosen the worst ? Which would 
von have chosen had you been in his place, my brethren ? WoulC 



vou have determined for war ? Could you hare borne the bare idea 
of it? Could you have endured to see the once victorious armies 
of Israel led in triumph by an enemy, the ark of the Lord a captive, 
a cruel and barbarous soldiery reducing a kingdom to ashes, razing 
fortresses, ravaging a harvest, and destroying in a moment the hope 
of the whole year? Would you have determined for famine ? Would 
you have chosen to have the heaven become as iron, and the earth 
brass, the seed dying in the earth, or the corn burning before it was 
ripe. The locust eating what the palmer worm hath left, and the canker 
worm eating what the locust hath left, Joel, i. 4. men snatching bread 
from one another's hands, struggling between life and death, and 
starving till food would afford no nourishment? Would you have chos- 
en mortality ? Could you have reconciled yourselves to the terrible 
times in which contagion on the wings of the wind carries its deadly 
poison with the rapidity of lightning from city to city, from house to 
house ; a time in which social living is at an end, when each is 
wholly employed in guarding himself from danger, and hath no op- 
portunity to take care of others ; when the father flees from the 
sight of the son, the son from that of the father, the wife avoids the 
husband, the husband the wife ; when each dreads the sight of the 
person he most esteems, and receives, and communicates poisonous 
and deadly infection ? These are the dreadful punishments out of 
which God required guilty David to choose one, These he was to 
weigh in a balance, while he agitated the mournful question, which 
of the three shall I choose for my lot? However, he determines^ 
Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great : but let 
me not fall into the hand of man. He thought, that immediate strokes 
from the hand of a God, merciful though displeased, would be most 
tolerable.-* He could conceive nothing more terrible than to see be- 
tween God and himself men, who would intercept his looks, and 
who would prevent his access to the throne of grace. 

My brethren, the wish of David under his consternation may 
direct ours in regard to all the spots that have defiled our lives. 
True, the eyes of God are infinitely more pure than those of men. 
He indeed discovers frailties in our lives, which have escaped our 
notice, and if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. 
It is true, he hath punishments to inflict on us infinitely more dreads 
ful than any mankind can invent, and if men can kill the body, God is 
able to destroy both soul and body in hell. However, this Almighty 
God, this terrible, this avenging God is a merciful God, great are his 
tender mercies: but men, men are cruel, yea, the very men, who 
allow themselves to live in the most shameful licentiousness, men 
who have the most need of the patience of others, men who them- 
selves deserve the most rigorous punishment, these very men are 
usually void of all pity for their fellows. Behold a famous example. 
The unchaste woman in the text experienced both, and by turns 
made trial of the judgment of God, and the judgment of men. But 
she met with a very different treatment. In Jesus Christ she found 
a very severe legislator, who left her awhile to shed tears, and 
very bitter tears ; a legislator, who left her awhile to her own grief, 
and sat and saw her hair dishevelled, and her features distorted \ 



b 

but who soon took care to dry up her tears, and to address this 
comfortable language to her, Go in peace. On the contrary, in the 
hands of men she found nothing but barbarity and cruelty. She 
heard a supercilious pharisee, endeavour to arm against her the 
Redeemer of mankind, try to persuade him to denounce her sen- 
tence of death, even while she was repenting of her sins, and do his 
utmost to cause condemnation to ilow from the very fountain of grace 
and mercy. 

It is this instructive, this comfortable history, that we set before 
you to-day. and which presents three very different objects to our 
meditation, the conduct of the incontinent woman, that of the phar- 
isee, and that of Jesus Christ. In the conduct of the woman, 
prostrate at the feet of our Saviour, you see the principal characters 
of repentance. In that of the pharisee you may observe the venom, 
that not unfrequently infects the judgments, which mankind make 
of one another. And in that of Jesus Chri9t you may behold free 
and generous emotions of pity, mercy and compassion./Let us enter 
into the matter. 

I. Let us first observe the Incontinent woman, now become a peni- 
tent. The question most controverted by interpreters, and very 
differently answered by them, is that, which in our opinion is the 
least important, that is, who was this woman? Not that a perfect 
knowledge of her person, and the history of her life, would not be 
very proper, by explaining the nature of her sins, to give us a just 
idea of her repentance, and so contribute to elucidate the text: but 
because, though we have taken a great deal of pains, we have 
found nothing on this article worthy to be proposed to critical hear- 
ers, who insist upon being treated as rational men, and who refuse 
to determine a point without evidence. 

I know, some expositors, misled by a resemblance between this 
anointing of Jesus Christ, and that mentioned in the eleventh chap- 
ter of St. John, when our Saviour^upped with Lazarus, have sup- 
posed that the woman here spoken of was the same Mary, the 
sister of Lazarus, who paid such a profound attention to the discourse 
ot Jesus Christ, and who, according to the evangelist, anointed the 
Lord -with ointment, and -wiped his feet -with her hair. And as other 
parts of the gospel speak of another Mary called Magdalen, some 
have thought that Mary thej sister of Lazarus, Mary Magdalen, 
out of whom it is said, Jesus Christ had cast seven devils, and the wo- 
man of our text, were one and the same person. 

We do not intend to enter on these discussions. It is sufficient 
to know, first, that the woman here in question lived in the city of 
Nain, which sufficiently distinguishes her from Mary the sister of 
Lazarus, who was of Bethany, and from Mary Magdalen, who pro- 
bably was so called, because she was born at Magdala, a little town 
in the tribe of Manasseh. Secondly, the woman of our text was one 
of a bad life, that is to say, guilty of impurity. The original word 
signifies a sinner. This term sometimes signifies in scripture the 
condition of such as lived out of the covenant, and in this sense it is 
used in the epistle to the Galatians, where St. Paul calls pagans 
miners : but the word is applied in Greek authors to those women* 



6 

who were such as all the circumstances of our history engage us to 
consider this woman. Though it is easy to determine the sin of 
this woman in general, yet it is not so easy to determine the particu- 
lar kind, whether it had been adultery, or prostitution, or only some 
one criminal intrigue. Our reflections will by turns regard each of 
these conditions. In fine, it is highly probable, both by the discourse 
of the pharisee, and by the ointment, with which this woman anoint- 
ed the feet of Jesus Christ, that she was a person of some fortune. 
This is all I know on this sort of question. Should any one require 
more, I should not blush to avow my ignorance, and to recommend 
him to guides wiser than any I have the honour of being acquainted 
with, or to such as possess that, which in my opinion, of all the talents 
of learned men, seems to me least to be envied, 1 mean that of hav- 
ing fixed opinions on doubtful subjects unsupported by any solid 
arguments. 

We will confine ourselves to the principal-circumstances of the 
life of this sinner ; and to put our observations into a kind of order 
we will examine first her grief — next, the Saviour to whom she ap- 
plied — then, the love that inflamed her — and lastly, the courage, 
with which she was animated. In these four circumstances we ob- 
serve four chief characters of repentance. First, Repentance must 
he lively, and accompanied with keen remorse. Our sinner weeps, 
and ner tears speak the language of her heart. Secondly, Repen 
tance must be wise in its application. Our sinner humbles hersel 
at the feet of him, who is the^ propitiation for our sins, and not, for ou 
only, but also for the sins of the whole world, I John ii. 2. Thirdly, 
Repentance must be tender in its exercise, and acts of diving lov 
must take place of the love of sin. Fourthly, Repentance must b 
bold. Our sinner surmounts all the scruples dictated by false honour 
she goes into the house of the pharisee, and acknowledges her mis 
conduct in the presence of all the guests, and was no more ashame 
to disavow her former crimes than she had been to commit them. 

We consider, in the repentance of this woman the grief witi 
which she was penetrated. Repentance must be accompanied wit' 
keen remorse. It is the chief character of it. In whatever class of 
unchaste people this woman ought to be placed, whether she had 
been a common prostitute, or an adulteress, or whether being unmar- 
ried she had abandoned herself for once to criminal voluptuousness, 
she had too much reason to weep and lament. If she had been 
guilty of prostitution, she could not shed tears too bitter. Can any 
colours sufficiently describe a woman, who is arrived at such a pitch 
oi' impurity as to eradicate every degree of modesty ; a woman let- 
ting herself out to infamy, and giving herself up to the highest 
bidder; one who publickly devotes herself to the greatest excesses, 
whose house is a school of abomination, whence proceed those de- 
testable maxims, which poison the minds of men, and those infa- 
mous debaucheries, which infect the body, and throw whole fami- 
lies into a state of putrefaction ? It is saying too little to affirm, that 
this woman ought to shed bitier tears at the recollection of her 
scandalous and dissolute life. The priests and magistrates, and 
people of Nam ought to have covered themselves in sackcloth 



and ashes for having: tolerated such a house, for not having one 
spark of the zeal of Phrnehas the son of Eleazar, Num. xxv. 1 1 . For 
having left one stone upon another as a monument of the profligacy 
of the city, and for not having erased the very foundations of such 
a house, though they, who were employed in the business, had been 
buried in the ruins One such house suffered in a city is enough to 
draw down the curse of heaven on a whole province, a whole 
kingdom. 

Rome, what a fair opportunity have I now to confound thee ! Am 
I not able to produce in the sight of the whole world full proof of 
thy shame and infamy ? Do not a part of thy revenues proceed from 
a tax on prostitution? Are not prostitutes of both sexes thy nursing 
fathers* and nursing mothers ; is not the holy see in part supported, 
to use the language of scripture, by the hire of a whore, and the 
priceofadog? Deut. xxiii. 18. But alas ! I should leave thee too 
much reason to retort. I should fear, you would oppose our excesses 
against your excesses I should have too much reason to fear a wound 
by the dart shot at thee. I should tremble lest thou shouldst draw 
it smoking from thine own unclean heart, and lodge it in ours. O 
God ! teach my hands to day to war, and my fingers to fight. My 
brethren, should access to this pulpit be forever forbidden to us in 
future ; though I were sure this discourse would be considered as a 
torch of sedition intended to set all these provinces in a flame; and 
should a part of the punishment due to the fomenters of the crime 
fall upon the head of him who hath the courage to reprove it, I do, 
and 1 will declare, that the prosperity of these provinces can never, 
no never be well established, while such affronts are publickly offer- 
ed to the majesty of that God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, 
Bab i. 13. Ah ! Proclaim no more fasts, convoke no more solemn 
assemblies, appoint no more publick prayers to avert the anger of 
heaven. Let not the priests, the ministers of the Lord weep between the 
porch and the altar, let them not say, spare thy people, O Lord, and give 
not thine heritage to reproach, Joel ii. 17. All this exterior of devotion 
will be useless, while there are amongst us places publickly set apart 
for impurity. The filthy vapour, that proceeds from them, will as- 
cend, and form a thick cloud between us and the throne of grace, a 
cloud, which the most ardent prayers cannot pierce through. 

Perhaps our penitent had been guilty of adultery. What idea 
must a woman form of herself, if she have committed this crime, and 
considers it in its true point of light ? Let her attentively observe 
the dangerous condition, into which she hath plunged herself, and 
to that which she is yet exposed. She hath taken for her model 
the woman described by Soloman,and who hath had too many copies 
in latter ages, that strange woman in the attire of an harlot, who is 
subtle of heart, loud and stubborn, her feet abiding not in her house, now 
without, now in the streets, lying in wait at every comer* and saying to 
such, among the youth as are void of understanding, I have peace offer- 
ings with me, this day have I paid my vows. I have decked my bed with 
coverings of tapestry, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my 
bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love, 
for the good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey, and will not 



8 

4ome home till the day appointed, Prov. vii. 5. &c. Is it necessary, 
think you, my brethren, to alter many of these descriptive expres- 
sions to give a likeness of the manners of our times? 

Are not modern dissipations described in the perpetual motion of 
this strange woman, whose feet abide not in her house, who is now 
without in the country, then, in the streets, and at every corner ? 
What are some curious, elegant and fashionable dresses, but the 
attire of a harlot? Are not the continual artifices, and accumulated 
dissimulations, which some people use to conceal future designs, or 
to cover past crimes, are not these features of this subtle woman? 
What are those pains taken to form certain parties of pleasure but 
features of this woman, whosaith, I have peace offerings with me, I 
have this day paid my vows, come let us solace ourselves with loves ? 
What are certain moments expected with impatience, managed with 
industry and employed with avidity, but features of this woman, 
who saith to fools among the youths, the good man is not at home, nor 
willhe come till the day appointed**. — I stop. — If the unchaste woman 
in the text, had been guilty of adultery, she had defiled the most 
sacred and inviolable of all connections. She had kindled discord 
in the family of him, who was the object of her criminal regard. 
She had given an example of impurity and perfidy to her children 
and her domestics, to the world and to the church. She had af- 
fronted in the most cruel manner the man, to whom she owed the 
tenderest attachment, and the most profound respect. She had 
covered her parents with disgrace, and provoked such as knew her 
debauchery to inquire from which of her ancestors she had received 
such impure and tainted blood. She had divided her heart and her 
bed with the most implacable enemy of her family. She had haz- 
arded the legitimacy of her children, and confounded the lawful 
heir with a spurious offspring. Are any tears too bitter to expiate 
such an odious complication of crimes? is any quantity too great to 
shed to wash away such guilt as this ? 

But we will not take pains to blacken the reputation of this peni- 
tent : we may suppose her unchaste, as the evangelist leads us to do, 
without supposing her an adulteress or a prostitute. She might have 
fallen once, and only once. Her sin, however, even in this case 
must have become a perpetual source of sorrow, thousands and 
thousands of sad reflections must have pierced her heart. Was this 
the only fruit of my education? Is this all I have learned from the 
many lessons that have been given me from my cradle, and which 
seem so proper to guard me forever against the rocks where my 
feeble virtue has been shipwrecked ? I have renounced the decen- 
cy of my sex, the appurtenances of which olway9 have been timidity, 
scrupulosity, delicacy and modesty. I have committed one of those 
crimes, which, whether it be justice or cruelty, mankind never for- 
give. I have given myself up to the unkindness and contempt of 
him, to whom I have shamefully sacrificed my honour. I have fixed 
daggers in the heart* of my parents, I have caused that to be attri- 
buted to their negligence, which was occasioned only by my own 
depravity and folly. I have banished myself forever from the 
company of prudent persons How can 1 bear their looks? Where 
can I find a night dark enough to conceal me from their sight? 



9 

Thus might our mourner think ; but to refer all her grief to mo- 
tives of this kind would be to insult her repentance. She hath 
other motives more worthy of a penitent. This heart, the heart that 
my God demanded with so much condescension and love, I have de- 
nied him, and given up to voluptuousness. This body, which should 
have been a temple of the Holy Ghost, is become the den of an im- 
pure passion. The time and pains I should have employed in the 
work of my salvation, I have spent in robbing Jesus Christ of his 
conquests. I have disputed with my Saviour the souls he redeemed 
with his blood, and what he came to save I have endeavoured to 
sink in perdition. I am become the cause of the remorse of my 
accomplice in sin, he considers me with horror, he reproaches me 
with the very temptations, to which he exposed me, and when our 
eyes meet in a religious assembly, or in the performance of a cere- 
mony of devotion, he tacitly tells me, that I made him unworthy to 
be there. I shall be his executioner on his death bed, perhaps I 
shall be so through all eternity. I have exposed myself to a thou- 
sand dangers, from which nothing but the grace of God hath pro- 
tected me, to a thousand perils and dreadful consequences, the sad 
and horrible examples of which stain all history. Such are the 
causes of the tears of this penitent. She stood at the feet of Jesus 
Christ weeping, and washed his feet with tears. This is the first 
character of true repentance, it consists in part in keen remorse. 

Repentance must be wise in its application. Our sinner did not 
go to the foot of mount Sinai, to seek for absolution under pretence 
of her own righteousness, and to demand justification as a reward 
due to her works. She was afraid, as she had reason to be, that 
the language of that dreadful mountain proceeding from the mouth 
of divine justice would pierce her through. Nor did she endeavour 
to ward off the blows of justice by covering herself with supersti- 
tious practices. She did not say, wherewith shall I come before 
the Lord, and bow myself before the high God ? Shall I come before him 
with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old ? Will the Lord be pleas- 
ed with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand of rivers of oil ? Shall 
I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin 
of my soul? Micah vi. 7. She did not even require priests and Le- 
vites to offer propitiatory services for her. She discerned the 
sophisms of errour, and acknowledged the Redeemer of mankind 
under the veils of infirmity and poverty, that covered him. She 
knew, that the blood of bulls and of goats could not purify the con- 
science. She knew tfeat Jesus sitting at table with the pharisee 
was the only offering, the only victim of worth sufficient to satisfy 
the justice of an offended God. She knew that he was made unto 
sinners wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption : 
that his name was the only one among men whereby they might be 
saved, it was to Jesus Christ that she had recourse, bedewing with 
tears the feet of him who was about to shed his blood for her, and 
receiving by an anticipated faith the benefit of the death, that he. 
was going to suffer, she renounced dependance on every kind of 
satisfaction except his. 

The third character of the repentance of this sinner is love. \\ 
2 



10 

shall seem, Jesus Christ, would have us consider all her actions 
as evidences of love, rather than as marks of repentance She hath 
loved much. These things are not incompatible. Though perfect 
love casteih out fear \ yet it cloth not cast out grief, for the pardon of 
sin received by an elect soul, far from diminishing the regret which 
it feels for committing it, contributes to augment it. The more we 
love God, the greater the pain felt for offending him. Yea, this 
love that makes the happiness of angels, this love that inflames 
seraphiros, this love that supports the believer under the most cruel 
torments, this love is the greatest punishment of a penitent. To 
have offended the God we love, a God rendered amiable by infinite 
perfections, a God so tender, so compassionate as to pardon the 
very sins we lament ; this love excites in a soul such emotions of 
repentance as we should labour in vain to express, unless your 
hearts, in concert with our mouths, feel in proportion as we 
describe. 

Courage is the fourth character of the repentance, or, if you will, 
the love of this woman. She doth not say, What will they say of 
me? Ah, my brethren, how often hath this single consideration^ 
What will they say nf me? been an obstacle to repentance ! How 
many penitents have been discouraged, if not prevented by it ! To say 
all in one word, how many souls hath it plunged into perdition !> 
Persons affected by this, though urged by their consciences to re- 
nounce the world and its pleasures, have not been able to get over 
a fear of the opinions of mankind concerning their conversion. Is 
any one persuaded of the necessity of living retired? This conside- 
ration, What will be said of me ? terrifies him. It will be said, that 1 
choose to be singular, that I affect to distinguish myself from other 
men, that I am an enemy to social pleasure. Doth any one desire 
to be exact in the performance of divine worship ? This one consi- 
deration, What will they say of me ? terrifies. They will say, I affect 
to set myself off for a religious and pious person, 1 want to impose on 
the church by a specious outside ; they will say, I am a weak man, 
full of fancies and phantoms. Our penitent breaks through every 
worldly consideration. " She goes," said a modern author, u into 
a strange house, without being invited, to disturb the pleasure of 
a festival by an ill-timed sorrow, to cast herself at the feet of the 
Saviour, without fearing tvhat could be said, either of her past life, 
or of her present boldness, to make by this extraordinary action a 
publick confession of her dissoluteness and to suffer, for the first 
punishment of her sins, and for a proof of her conversion, such in- 
sults as the pride of th» pharisees, and her own ruined reputation 
would certainly draw upon her." We have seen the behaviour of 
the penitent; now let us observe the judgment of the pharisee, 
If this man were a prophet, he would have known who, and what man- 
ner of woman that is that toucheth him, for she is a woman of bad 
fame, 

II. The evangelist expressly tells us, that the pharisee who thus 
judged, was the person at whose table Jesus Christ was eating. 
Whether he were a disciple of Jesus Christ, as is very probable, 
and as his calling Christ master seems to import, or whether he had 



11 

invited him for other reasons, are questions of little importance and 
we will not now examine them It is certain, our Saviour did often 
eat with some pharisees, who far from being his disciples were the 
most implacable enemies of his person and doctrine. If this man 
were a disciple of Jesus Christ, it should seem very strange that 
he should doubt the divinity of the mission of Christ, and inwardly 
refuse him even the quality of a prophet. This pharisee was named 
Simon, however nothing obliges us either to confound Simon the 
pharisee with Simon the leper, mentioned in Matthew, and to whose 
house Jesus Christ retired, or the history of our text with that 
related in the last mentioned place, for the circumstances are very 
different, as it would be easy to prove, had we not subjects more im- 
portant to propose to you Whoever this pharisee might be, he 
sa.d within himself, This man, if he were a prophet, would have 
known who, and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him : for 
she is a sinner. There are four defects in this judgment — a criminal 
indolence — an extravagant rashness — an intolerable pride — an anti- 
christian cruelty. As we cannot help condemning the opinion of 
the pharisee for these four defects, so we cannot avoid censuring 
most of the judgments, that people form on the conduct of their 
neighbours for tUe same reasons. 

Ji criminal indolence. That disposition of mind, I allow, is very 
censurable, which inspires a perpetual attention to the actions of 
our neighbours, and the motive of it is sufficient to make us abhor 
the practice. We have reason to think, that the more people pry 
into the conduct of their neighbours, the more they intend to gratify 
the barbarous pleasure of defaming them : but there is a disposition 
far more censurable still, and that is to be always ready to form a 
rigorous judgment on the least appearances of impropriety, and 
without taking pains to enquire, whether there be no circum- 
stances that diminish the guilt of an action apparently wrong, nothing 
that renders it deserving of patience^or pity. It doth not belong to 
os to set ourselves up for judges of the actions of our brethren, to 
become inquisitors in regard to their manners, and to distribute 
punishments of sin and rewards of virtue. At least, when we usurp 
this right, let us not aggravate our conduct by the manner, in which 
we exercise the bold imperious usurpation. Let us not pronounce 
like iniquitous judges on the actions of those sinners, to whom nature. 
society, and religion ought to unite us in an affectionate manner. 
Let us procure exact informations of the causes of such criminals 
as we summon before our tribunals, and let us not deliver our sen- 
tences till we have weighed in a just balance whatever tends to 
condemn, or to absolve them. This would bridle cur malignity. 
We should be constrained to suspend for a long time our avidity to 
solicit, and to hasten the death of a sinner. The pleasure of declar- 
ing him guilty would be counterbalanced by the pain of trying the 
cause. Did this pharisee give himself time to examine the whole 
conduct of the sinner, as he called her? Did he enter into all the 
discussions necessary to determine whether she were a penitent sin- 
ner, or an obstinate sinner ? whether she were reformed, or harden- 
ed like a reprobate in the practice of sin? No certainly. At thn 



12 

sight of the woman he recollects only the crimes, of which she had 
been guilty ; he did not see her, and he did not choose to see her in 
any other point of light ; he pronounced her character rashly, and 
he wanted Jesus Christ to be as rash as himself, this is a woman of 
bad fame. Do you not perceive, my brethren, what wicked indo- 
lence animated this iniquitous judge, and perverted his judgment. 

The pharisee sinned by rashness. See how he judges of the con- 
duct of Christ in regard to the woman, and of what the woman 
ought to expect of Jesus Christ, on supposition his mission had been 
divine, this man, if he were a prophet would have known who, and 
what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. 
This opinion supposes, that a prophet ought not in any case to have 
patience with a woman of this sort. As if it were impossible for a 
prophet to have any design impenetrable to the eye of a pharisee ! 
As if any one had a right to censure the conduct of a man under 
the direction of the infinite Spirit ! But it is because this man is a \ 
prophet, it is because he is more than a prophet, it is because he is 
the spring, the. ocean, from which all the prophets derived the su- 
pernatural knowledge of the greatest mysteries of revelation, of 
predicting events the least likely to come to pass, of seeing into 
the most distant and impenetrable futurity ; it is because of this, that 
he is capable of forming a just notion of the character of a sinner, 
and the nature of sin. Yes, none but God can form such a judg- 
ment, Who art thou that judgeth another? Rom. xiv. 4. Such a 
judgment depends on so many difficult combinations, that none but 
an'infinite intelligence is capable of making it with exactness. 

In order to judge properly of a crime, and a criminal, we must 
examine the power of the temptations, to which he was exposed, 
the opportunities given him to avoid it, the force of his natural 
constitution, the motives that animated him, the resistance he made, 
the virtues he practised, the talents God gave him, the education he 
had, what knowledge he had acquired, what conflicts he endured, 
what remorse he has felt. An exact comparison ought to be made 
of his sins with his virtues, in order to determine whether sin pre- 
vails over virtue, or whether virtue prevails over sin, and on this 
confronting of evidence a proper idea of the sinner in question must 
be formed. It must be examined whether he were seduced by ig- 
norance, or whether he were allured by example, or whether he 
yielded through weakness, whether dissipation or obstinacy, malice, 
or contempt of God and his law confirmed him in sin. On the ex- 
amination of all these articles depends the truth of the judgment, 
which we form of a fellow creature. There needs nothing but one 
circumstance, nothing but one degree of more or less in a moral 
action to change the nature of it, to render it pardonable or irre- 
missible, deserving compassion or horror. Now who is he, who is 
the man, that is equal to this combination? Accordingly, nothing 
more directly violates the laws of benevolence and justice, than 
some decisive opinions, which we think proper to give on the 
characters of our neighbours. It is indeed the office of judges to 
punish such crimes as disturb the peace of society ; and each indi- 
vidual may say to his brethren, this is the path of virtue, that is 



*3 

the road of vice. We have authority indeed to inform them, that 
the unrighteous, that is. adulterers, idolaters, and fornicators shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi 9, 10. Indeed we ought to 
apprize them of danger, and to make them tremble at the sight of 
the bottomless pit, toward which they are advancing a great pace : 
but to make such a combination as we have described, and to pro- 
nounce such and such people reprobates is rashness, it is to assume 
all the authority of the sovereign judge. 

There is in the opinion of the pharisee a selfish yridc. What is 
it then that makes this woman deserve his indignation? At what 
tribunal will she be found more odious than other sinners who in- 
solently lift their heads both in the world and the church ? It is at 
the tribunal of pride. Thou superb pharisee ! Open thine eyes, 
see, look, examine, there is within the walls, where thy feast is 
prepared, there is even at thy table a much greater sinner than this 
woman, and that sinner is thyself! The sin, of which thou art guil- 
ty, and which is more abominable than unchastity, more abominable 
than adultery, more abominable than prostitution itself, is pride, 
and above all, pharisaical pride. The sin of pride is always hateful 
in the eyes of God, whether it be pride of honour, pride of fortune, 
or pride of power : but pride, arising from an opinion of our own 
righteousness is a direct crime against the divine majesty. On what 
principles, good God! is such a pride founded! What insolence has 
he, who is animated with it when he presents himself before God? 
He appears without fear and dread before that terrible throne, in 
the presence of which seraphims cover their faces, and the heavens 
themselves are unclean. He ventures to say to himself, I have 
done all my duty. I have had as much respect for God Almighty as 
he deserves. 1 have had as much zeal and ardour in prayer as the 
exercise requires. I have so restrained my tongue as to have no 
word, so directed my mind as to have no thought, so kept my heart 
as to have no criminal emotion to^ reproach myself with ; or if I 
have had at any time any frailty, I have so fully made amends for it 
by my virtue, that I have sufficiently satisfied all the just demands 
of God. I ask no favour, I want nothing but justice. Let the judge 
of the world call me before him. Let devouring fire, and eternal 
flames glitter in my presence. Let the tribunal of retribution be 
prepared before me. My arm shall save me, and a recollection of 
my own righteousness shall support me in beholding all these ob- 
jects. You sufficiently perceive, my brethren, what makes this dis- 
position so hateful, and we need not enlarge on the subject. Hu- 
mility is the supplement of the virtues of the greatest saints What 
application soever we have made to our duty, we have always fal- 
len short of our obligations. We owe so much homage to God as 
to acknowledge, that we cannot stand before him, unless we be ob- 
jects of his mercy; and a crime humbly acknowledged is more, tole- 
rable in hi3 eyes, than a virtue set forth with pride and parade. 

What above all poisons the judgment of the pharisee is that spirit 
of cruelty, which we have observed. He was content, though all 
the tears of true repentance shed by this woman were shed in vain, 
and wished when the woman had recourse to mercy, that God 



14 






would have assumed in that very instant a shocking character, that 
is, that he would have despised the sacrifice of a broken and contrite 
heart. Psalm li. 17. It is delightful, my brethren, to combat such a 
fatal pretence. There is a high satisfaction in filling one's mind 
with just and elevated ideas of divine mercy. All we say against 
the barbarity of the pharisee will serve to strengthen our faith, 
when Satan endeavours to drive us to despair, as he endeavoured 
once to destroy us by security, when he magnifies the sins we have 
committed, as he diminished them, when he tempted us to commit 
them. 

The mercy of Qod is not an abstract attribute, discovered with 
great difficulty through shades and darkness by our weak reason : 
but it is an attribute issuing from that among his other perfections, 
of which he hath given the most clear and sensible proofs, I mean 
his goodness. All things preach to us, that God is good. There is 
no star in the firmament, no wave of the ocean, no production of 
the earth, no plant in our gardens, no period in our duration, no 
gifts of his favour, I had almost said no strokes of his anger which 
do not contribute to prove this proposition, God is good. 

An idea of the mercy of Qod is not particular ta some places^ to any 
age, nation, religion, or sect. Although the empire of truth doth 
not depend on the number of those that submit to it, there is always 
some ground to suspect we are deceived, when we are singular in 
our opinions, and the whole world contradict us : but here the senti- 
ments of all mankind to a certain point agree with ours. All have 
acknowledged themselves guilty, and all have professed to worship 
a merciful God. Though mankind have entertained different senti- 
ments on the nature of true repentance, yet all have acknowledged 
the prerogatives of it. 

The idea of the mercy of God, is not founded merely on human 
speculations, subject to error : but it is founded on clear revelation ; 
and revelation preaches this mercy far more emphatically than rea- 
son. These decisions are not expressed in a vague and obscure 
manner, so as to leave room for doubt and uncertainty, but they 
are clear, intelligible, and reiterated. 

The decisions of revelation concerning the mercy of God do not 
leave us to consider it as a doctrine incongruous with the whole of 
religion, or connected with any particular doctrine taught as a part 
of it : but they establish it as a capital doctrinc,and on which the whole 
system of religion turns. What is our religion? It is a dispen- 
sation of mercy. It is a supplement to human frailty. It is a refuge 
for penitent sinners from the pursuits of divine justice. It is a cove- 
nant, in which we engage to give ourselves wholly up to the laws 
of God, and God condescends to accept our imperfect services, 
and to pardon our sins, how enormous soever they have been, on 
our genuine repentance. The promises of mercy made to us in re- 
ligion are not restrained to sinners of a particular order, nor to sins 
of a particular kind : but they regard all sinners and all sins of every 
possible kind. There is no crime so odious, no circumstance so 
aggravating, no life so obstinately spent in sin, as not to be pitiable 
and pardonable, when the sinner affectionately and sincerely returns 



15 

to God. If perseverance in evil, if the sin against the Holy Ghost 
exclude people from mercy, it is because they render repentance 
impracticable, not because they render it effectual. 

The doctrine of divine mercy is not founded on promises to be ac- 
complished at some remote and distant period; but experience hath 
justified these promises. Witness the people of Israel, witness Mo- 
ses, David, Ahab, Hezekiah, witness Manasseh, Nineveh, Nebu- 
chadnezzar. What hath not repentance done ? By repentance the 
people of Israel suspended the judgments of God, when they were 
ready to fall on them and crush them. By repentance Moses stood 
in the breach, and turned away the wrath of God. By repentance 
David recovered the joy of his salvation, after he had committed the 
crimes of murder and adultery. By repentance even Ahab obtain- 
ed a reprieve. By repentance Hezekiah enlarged the term of his 
life fifteen years. By repentance Manasseh saved himself and his 
people By repentance Nineveh obtained a revocation of the de- 
cree that a prophet had denounced against it. By repentance 
Nebuchadnezzar recovered his understanding, and his excellent ma- 
jesty. It would be easy to enlarge this list. So many reflections, 
so many arguments* against the cruel pretence of the pharisee. 

III. You have seen in our first part the repentance of the im- 
modest woman. In the second you have seen the judgment of the 
pharisee. Now it remains to consider the judgment of Jesus Christ 
concerning them both. u There was a certain creditor, which had 
two debtors : the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty, 
and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. 
Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon an- 
swered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And 
he said unto him, thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the 
woman, and said unto Simon, seest thou this woman ? I entered into 
thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet : but she hath 
washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her 
head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman, since the time I 
came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou 
didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with oint- 
ment. Wherefore 1 say unto thee, her sins which are many are 
forgiven ; fur she loved much : but to whom little is forgiven the 
same loveth little." This is our third part. 

These words have occasioned a famous question. It hath been 
asked whether the pardon granted by Jesus Christ to this woman 
were an effect of her love to Jesus Christ: or whether her love to 
Jesus Christ were an effect of the pardon she had received from 
him. The expressions, and the emblems made use of in the test, 
seem to countenance both these opinions. 

The parable proposed by our Saviour favours the latter opinion, 
that is, that the woman's love to Jesus Christ was an effect of the 
pardon she had received. A certain creditor had two debtors, 
when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave the one five 
hundred pence, and the other fifty. Which of them will love him 
most? The answer is, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave most. 
Who doth not see, that tbe love of this debtor is an effect of the 



16 

acquittance from the debt? And as this acquittance here represents 
the pardon of sin, who doth not see that the love of this woman, 
and of all others in her condition, is here stated as the effect of this 
pardon ? But the application which Jesus Christ makes of this par- 
able, seems to favour the opposite opinion, that is, that the love 
here spoken of was the cause and not the effect of pardon. Seest 
thou this woman ? Said Jesus Christ to Simon, 1 entered into 
thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet : but she hath 
washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her 
head. Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman, since the 
time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. Mine head with 
oil thou didst not anoint : but this woman hath anointed my feet 
with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins which are ma- 
ny are forgiven ; for she loved much. Doth it not seem, that the 
application of this parable proposes the pardon of the sins of this 
penitent, as being both the cause and the effect of her love. 

This question certainly deserves illucidation, because it regards 
words proceeding from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself, and on 
that account worthy of being studied with the utmost care : but is 
the question as important as some have pretended ? You may find 
some interpreters ready to excommunicate one another on account 
of this question, and to accuse their antagonists of subverting all 
their foundations of true religion. There have been times (and 
may such times never return) I say, there were times, in which 
people thought they distinguished their zeal by taking as much pains 
to envenom controversies, as they ought to have taken to conciliate 
them; and when they thought to serve true religion by aggravating 
the errors of opposite religions. On these principles, such as took 
the words of the text in the first sense taxed the other side with 
subverting the whole doctrine of free justification; for, said they, 
^f the pardon here granted to the sinner, be an effect of her love to 
Jesus Christ, what become of all the passages of scripture, which 
say, that grace, and grace alone obtains the remission of sin ? They 
of the opposite sentiment accused the others with subverting all the 
grounds of morality ; for, said they, if this woman's love to Jesus 
Christ be only an effect of pardon, it clearly follows, that she had 
been pardoned before she exercised love: But if this be the case, 
what become of all the passages of the gospel which make loving 
God a part of the essence of that faith without which there is no 
forgiveness? Do you not see, my brethren, in this way of disputing, 
that unhappy spirit <of party, which defends the truth with the arms 
of falsehood; the spirit that hath caused so many ravages in the 
church, and which is one of the strongest objections, that the enemy 
of mankind can oppose against a reunion of religious sentiments-, so 
much desired by all good men ? What then, may it not be affirmed in 
a very sound sense, that we love God before we obtain the pardon 
of our sins? Have we not declaimed against the doctrine of such 
divines as have advanced that attrition alone, that is to say, a fear 
of hell without any degree of love to God was sufficient to open the 
gates of heaven to a penitent? Recourse to the Saviour of the 
world, such a recourse as makes the essence of faith, ought it fo 



17 

have no other motive than that of desiring: to enjoy the benefits of 
his sacrifice ? Should it not be animated with love to his perfections ? 
But on the other hand, may it not also be said, in a sense most pure, 
and most evangelically accurate, that true love to God is an effect 
of the pardon we obtain of him ? This love is never more ardent, 
than when it is kindled at the flame of that, which is testified in our 
absolution. Is our zeal for the service of God ever more fervent 
than when it is produced by a felt reconciliation to him? Are the 
praises we sing to his glory ever more pure, than when they rise 
out of such motives as animate glorified saints, when we can say 
with them, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood, be glory and dominion? Rev. i. 5. Do different views of 
this text deserve so much wormwood and gall? 

But what is the opinion of the Saviour of the world, and what 
would he answer to the question proposed ? Was the pardon grant- 
ed to the sinner the cause of her love, or the effect of it ? Which of 
the two ideas ought to prevail in our minds, that in the parable, or 
that in the application of it? The opinion most generally received 
in our churches is that the love of this woman ought to be consider- 
ed as the effect of her pardon, and this appears to us the most likely, 
and supported by the best evidence: for the reason, on which this 
opinion is grounded, seems to us unanswerable. There is neither a 
critical remark, nor a change of virtue, that can elude the force 
and evidence of it: a creditor had two debtors, he forgave the one 
five hundred pence, and the other fifty ; the first will love him most. 
Undoubtedly this love is the effect, and not the cause of the ac- 
quittance of the debt. On the contrary, the reason on which the 
second opinion is founded may be easily answered. It is grounded 
on this expression, Her sins arc forgiven, for she loved much. The 
original reading is capable of another sense. Instead of translating 
for she loved much, the words may be rendered without any violence 
to the Gre^k text, her sins are forgiven, and because of that or on 
account of that she loved much. There are many examples of the 
original term being taken in this sense. We omit quotations and 
proofs only to avoid prolixity. 

We must then suppose, that the tears now shed by this woman 
were not the first, which she had shed at the remembrance of her sins. 
She had already performed several penitential exercises under a 
sense of forgiveness, and the repetition of these exercises proceeded 
both from a sense of gratitude for the sentence pronounced in her 
favour, and from a desire of receiving a ratification of it. On this 
account we have not assigned the fear of punishment as a cause of 
the grief of this penitent, as we ought to have done had we supposed 
that she had not already obtained forgiveness. Our supposition 
supposed by our comment on the words of the text in my opinion, 
throw great light on the whole passage. The pharisee is offended 
because Jesus Christ suffered a woman of bad character to give him 
so many tokens of her esteem. Jesus Christ makes at the same time 
an apology both for himself and for the penitent. He tells the 
pharisee, that the great esteem of this woman proceeds from a sense 
of the great favours, which the had received from him: that the 
3 



18 

pharispe thought he had given sufficient proof of his regard for Jesus 
Christ by receiving him into his house, without any extraordinary 
demonstrations of zeal, without giving him water to wash his feei , 
oil to anoint his head, or a kiss in token of friendship ; and that what 
prevented him from giving greater marks of esteem was his consid- 
ering himself in the condition of the first debtor, of whom only a 
little gratitude was required, because he had been released from an 
obligation to pay only a small and inconsiderable sum : but that this 
wuman considered herself in the condition of the other debtor, who 
had been forgiven^/be hundred pence ; and that therefore she thought 
herself obliged to give her creditor the highest marks of esteem. 
"Seest thou this woman ? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me 
no water for my feet : but she hath washed my feet with tears, and 
wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss : 
but she hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou 
didst not anoint: but she ha*h anointed my feet with ointment. 
Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many are forgiven." 
On this account she hath loved much, and hath given me all these 
proofs of affection, which are far superior to those, which 1 have 
received at your table, for he, to whom little is forgiven, loveth little. 
At length, Jesus Christ turns himself towards the penitent, and£ 
affected at her weeping afresh, repeats his assurances of forgive^ 
ness, and appeases that sorrow, which the remembrance of her 
crimes excited in her heart, though she no longer dreaded punish- " 
ment. Go saith he, thy sins are forgiven — Go in peace. 

Ye rigid casuists, who render the path of life strait and difficult; 
ye, whose terrifying maxims are planted like briars and thorns in 
the roads to paradise ; ye messengers of terror and vengeance, 
like the dreadful angels who with flaming swords kept guilty man 
from attempting to return to the garden of Eden ; ye who denounce 
only hell and damnation ; come hither and receive instruction. 
Come and learn how to preach, and how to write, and how to 
speak in your pulpits to your auditors, and how to comfort on a 
dying bed, a man, whose soul hovers on his lips, and is just depart- 
ing. See the Saviour of the world ; behold with what ease and in- 
dulgence he receives this penitent. Scarcely had she begun to 
weep, scarcely had she touched the feet of Jesus Christ with a 
little ointment but he crowned her repentance, became her apologist, 
pardoned during, one moment of repentance the excesses of a whole 
life, and condescended to acknowledge for a member of a glorious 
church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, this woman, 
and what kind of a woman? A woman guilty, perhaps of prostitu- 
tion, perhaps of adultery, certainly of impurity and fornication. 
After this, do you violently declaim against conversion, under pre- 
tence that-it is not effected precisely at such time as you think fit to 
appoint? Do you yet refuse to publish pardon and forgiveness to 
that sinner, who indeed hath spent his whole life in sin, but who 
a few moments before he expires puts on all the appearance of true 
repentance, covers himself with sorrow and dissolves himself in 
tears, like the penitent in the text, and assures you that he em- 
braces with the utmost fervor the feet of the Redeemer of mankind 9 



19 

Do I deceive myself, my brethren ? I think I see the audience 
quicken their attention. This last reflection seems to suit the taste of 
most of my hearers. I think,I perceive, some reaching the right hand 
of fellowship to me, and congratulating me for publickly abjuring 
this day a gloomy and melancholy morality, more likely to drive 
sinners to despair than to reclaim them. 

How, my brethren, have we preached to you so many years, and 
you after all so little acquainted with us as to imagine that we have 
proposed this reflection with any other design than that of shewing 
you the folly of it? Or rather are you so little acquainted with 
your religion, with the spirit of the gospel in general, and with 
that of my text in particular, as to derive consequences diametrical- 
ly opposite to the design of inspired writers? And where, pray, 
are these barbarous men ? Where are these messengers of ven- 
geance and terrors ? Where are the casuists, whose maxims render 
the road to eternal life inaccessible ? Who are the men, who thus 
excite your anger and indignation ? What ! Is it the man, who hath 
spent fifty or sixty years in examining the human heart ; the man who 
assures you that,after a thousand diligent and accurate investigations, 
he finds impenetrable depths of deception in the heart; the man, 
who from th'e difficulty of his own examinations derives arguments 
to engage you not to be satisfied with a superficial knowledge of 
your conscience, but to carry the light of the gospel into the dark- 
est recesses of your heart ; the man, who advises you over and f 
over again that if you content yourselves with a slight knowledge 
of yourselves, you must be subject to ten thousand illusions, that 
you will take the semblance of repentance for repentance itself, 
that you will think yourselves rich and increased zvith goods, while 
you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, 
Rev. iii. 17. Is this the rigid casuist, who offends and irritates you ? 

Perhaps it is the man, who tells you that, in order to assure your- 
selves that you are in a state of grace, you must love God with an 
esteem of preference, which will engage you to obey him before 
all his creatures ; the man, who. judging by innumerable evidences 
that you prefer serving the creature more than the Creator, Rom. i. 
2b. concludes from this sad phenomenon that you have reason to 
tremble : The man, who advises you to spend at least one week in 
recollection and retirement before you partake of the Lord's sup- 
per : the man, who would have you purify your hands from the blood 
of your brethren, and your heart burning with hatred and vengeance, 
and on that account placed in a catalogue of 'murderers'' hearts, accord- 
ing to the spirit of the gospel : the man, who forbids you to come to 
the Lord's supper while your wicked courses are only suspended 
instead of being reformed, and while your cruel exactions are only 
delayed instead of being entirely left off? Perhaps this is the man ! 
Is this the rigid casuist, who offends and irritates you ? 

Or, probably, it is the man who hath attended you three, four, or 
half a dozen times in fits of sickness, who then saw you covered 
with tears, every time acknowledging your sins, and always calling 
heaven and earth to witness your sincere intention to reform, and to 
change your conduct, but who hath always seen you immediately 



20 

on your recovery return to your former course of life, as if you 
had never shed a tear, never put up a prayer, never made a reso- 
lution, never appealed to heaven to attest your sincerity : the man, 
who concludes from such sad events as these that the resolutions of 
sick and dying people ought always to be considered as extremely 
suspicious ; the man, who tells you that during all his long and 
constant attendance on the sick he hath seldom seen one con- 
verted on a sick bed (for our parts, my brethren we x are mourn- 
ful guarantees of this awful fact) the man alarmed at these 
frightful examples, and slow to publish the grace of God to dying 
people of a certain class ; I say, probably, this is the man, who 
offends you! Is not this the cruel casuist, who provokes you? 

What! Is it the man, who sees the sentence of death written in 
your face, and your house of clay just going to sink, to whom you 
appear more like a skeleton than a living body, and who fears every 
morning lest some messenger should inform him that you was found 
dead in your bed, who fears all this from your own complaints, 
what am I saying ? from your own complexion, from the alarms 
of your friends, and from the terrors of your own family ; the 
man who is shocked to see that all this makes no impression 
upon you, but that you live a life of dissipation and security, which 
would be unpardonable in a man, whose firm health might seem to 
promise him a long life ; the man who cries to you, awake thou that 
steepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light, 
Eph i. ll. improve the remainder of life, the breath which, though 
it leaves thee to totter, prevents thy falling down dead. Is this the 
man, the rigid casuist who offends and irritates you ? Such maxims, 
such discourses, such books, such sermons, are they the systems of 
morality, which confound you, and drive you to despair? 

After all, where ure the sinners, whom these casuists have driven 
to despair ? Where are those tormented and distracted consciences ? 
For my part, 1 see nothing, turn my eyes which way I will, but a 
deep sleep. I see nothing but security, lethargy, insensibility. 
How is it possible that the history of our text, that the language of 
Jesus' Christ, Woman, thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace, that the 
voice of eternal truth should incline you to raise objections full of 
error and illusion? Is there no difference between your case and 
thai of this penitent woman, none between Jesus Christ and your 
casuists? Is there any thing in which they agree? The casuist con- 
versing with this penitent was a prophet, a prophet ! he was a God, 
who searched the reins and the hearts, who saw the bottom of her soul, 
and who penetrated through all the vails, with which a frail human 
heart is covered, and beheld the truth of her conversion and the 
genuineness of her grief: but you, my brethren, you have no such 
casuists, and we can judge only by external performances, which as- 
certain your state only on condition that they proceed from your heart. 
Our penitent lay prostrate at the feet of the Lord of religion, who 
could save her if he pleased, by extraordinary means, and who 
could deliver her from death and hell by a singular effort of power 
not to be repeated : but your casuists are servants, who act by com- 
mission, under express directions and orders, and who have no right 



21 

to announce peace till you answer the description given in the royal 
instrument. Such minister*, whatever assurances of grace and par- 
don they affect to give, ought never to calm your consciences till 
you have exactly conformed to the orders of their and your sove- 
reign master. Our penitent came to ask pardon in a free and vol- 
untary manner, while she was in perfect health, all her actions 
were unconstrained and spontaneous : but you wait till death hales 
you to the tribunal of God, you loiter till the fear of eternal flames 
fright you away from such pleasures as you continue to love, and to 
which you would most likely return again, did not God spare you 
the shame by not giving you an opportunity. The penitent in our 
text did all she could in her circumstances to express the truth of 
her repentance, there was no sacrifice so dear that she did not offer, 
no victim so valuable that she did not stab, if I may use such an ex- 
pression, with the knife of repentance, no passion so inveterate that 
she did not eradicate, no marks of love for her Saviour so tender 
that she did not with all liberality express. Behold her eyes flowing 
with tears over the feet of Jesus Christ, behold her hair dishevelled, 
her perfumes poured out, behold all the characters of sincerity, 
which we have observed in our first part. Is there any one mark 
of a true conversion, which she does not bear? But you, how many 
artifices have you ? How many actions of your lives, which we must 
not be allowed to state to you in the true point of light ? How ma- 
ray tempers in your hearts, which must not yet be touched ? Here, 
it is an enemy, the bare sound of whose name would increase your 
fever, and hasten your death. There it is an iniquitous acquisition, 
which you reserve for your son to enable him to take your name 
with greater honour, and to support with more dignity that vain 
parade, or rather that dust and smoke in which you have all your 
life involved yourself. Our penitent never deceived Jesus Christ : 
but you have deceived your friend a thousand and a thousand times. 
Our penitent wept over the odious^paris of her life, and, far from 
being too proud to confess her sins, gloried in her confession while 
she blushed for her crimes; but your eyes, on the contrary, your 
eyes are yet dry, and it is Jesus Christ, who is yet weeping at your 
feet, it is he, who is shedding tears over you, as formerly over Jeru- 
salem, it is he who is saying, O that thou hadst known, even thou, at 
least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! O that my 
people had hearkenedunto me, and Israel had walked in my ways ! Luke 
xix. 42. Psal. lxxxi. 13. It is not then to you, but it is to your kind of 
repentance that sentences of absolution ought to be refused. The 
repentance of the unchaste woman was exactly conformable to the 
covenant of grace, to the genius of the gospel, and to the end of the 
mission of Jesus Christ. Hence from the mouth of the Saviour of 
the world proceeded, in spite of her former libertinism, in spite of 
the cruel censure of the pharisee, and in spite of the murmuring of 
the guests, these comfortable words, Woman, thy sins are forgiven 
thee. Woman, thy faith hath saved thee. Go, depart in peace. 

Here, my brethren, the evangelist finishes the-history of the pen- 
itent woman ; and here we will finish this discourse. There is, 
however, one circumstance, which St. Luke hath omitted, and 



22 

Which, if I may yenture to say so, I wish he had recorded in the 
most severe and circumstantial manner. What were the future 
sentiments of this woman after the courageous steps she had taken 
at her setting out ? What emotions did absolution produce in her 
soul? What effects in her conscience did this language of the Sav- 
iour of the world cause, Woman, thy sins are forgiven — thy faith 
hath saved thee — go in peace ! But there is nothing in this silence 
that ought to surprize us. Her joy was not a circumstance that 
came under the notice of the historian. In the heart of this frail 
woman converted and reconciled to God lay this mystery conceal- 
ed. There was that peace of God which passeth all understanding, 
that joy unspeakable and full of glory, that white stone, and that new 
name which no man knowelh saving he that receiveth it. May you 
receive it< my brethren, that you may know it ! May the grief of a 
lively and bitter repentance wound your hearts, that mercy may 
heal and comfort them, and fill them with pleasure and joy ! God 
grant us this grace ! To him be honour and glory forever. Amen. 



J&KWMMP 



OF 



MINISTERIAL LABOURS 

OF WILLIAM COLLIER. 



Respected Brethren and Friends, 

THE season of the year at which this Society celebrates its 
Anniversary, is calculated to impress our minds with a sense of the 
frailty of life and of our accountability at the judgment seat of Jesus 
Christ, when our existence will no longer be marked by the com- 
mencement or close of years. Since our last meeting an important 
portion of that precious time allotted to us on earth has passed 
away — it is gone forever ! And how little the knowledge of Re- 
demption which we have acquired ? And how little, comparatively, 
have we done to promote that knowledge among our fellow crea- 
tures, the year past? But, although we have much to confess and 
lament on our part, we have much more to be grateful for on the 
part of our kind preserver and gracious Benefactor. We are mor- 
tal ! All flesh is as grass. God is eternal. The word of the Lord 
endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is 
preached unto you. 

It is for the promotion., especially among the poor and wretched, 
of such a gospel as this; a gospel which involves our personal, 
domestic and civil interests, in their highest possible consideration, 
that we are convened in this place on this occasion. The report 
of my labours communicated to the Society at their adjourned meet- 
ing on the 12th of February, 1822, was, with the approbation of the 
directors, published in the Christian Watchman, on the 4th and 
11th days of last May. Several ministering brethren, and others, 
have spoken to me of that publication in terms calculated to en- 
courage labours of this kind, as being, especially, useful among the 
poor and ignorant inhabitants of such a city as this. Early in the 
spring of last year the Rev. Amos Bingham engaged in ministerial 
labours under the patronage of the Boston Society for Missionary 
purposes; and it was their wish that we should be united in our 
services as much as circumstances in Divine providence would 
permit. Accordingly on the 15th day of March, I commenced my 
labours in connexion with that faithful and industrious minister of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our attention was directed particu- 
larly to the west part of the city. There we became acquainted 
with a Mr. , with whom we deposited a considerable num- 



24 

ber of religious tracts, suitable to the state of society there, to be 
loaned, re-loaned, and circulated from house to house, till they 
should have been read by every family in that neighbourhood.— 
These little missionaries travel and preach where we cannot go; 
and, although in some instances they may have been abused, we 
have reason to believe, that, on the whole, they have done much 
good. When we have subsequently and unexpectedly called at 
some of the houses where they have been left, we have tound 
them reading tracts previously obtained through our agency. 

On and about the 9th day of April, Mr. Bingham and myself 
spent some time in visiting the people on the wharves on the east 
side of Ann-street, towards the north part of the city. We found 
many poor and needy individuals and families in that direction ; con- 
versed and prayed with some — reproved and admonished others. 
Some readily received and apparently enjoyed our conversation 
and prayers during these visits. There are many poor people in 
that part of the city who need counsel, instruction and help. 

My services were continued at the Mission-house until the com- 
mencement of the fall vacation at the Theological Seminary, at An- 
dover ; when I was relieved from that service by the students from 
that Institution ; and Mr. Bingham and others. Mr. Gamble now 
supplies the morning congregation in that place regularly, which is 
increasing in numbers, attended with other indications of its stability 
and success. 

On the 23d of April I visited Samuel Green, alias Mudge, in jail, 
under the sentence of death. He appeared to be unusually harden- 
ed in his sins. 1 asked him what were his views and feelings re- 
specting his state after death, which would probably take place 
very soon by an ignominous execution? He replied with much ap- 
parent indifference, the amount of which was that he had not much 
to hope for, or much to fear. 1 told him that it was a great thing 
to be in eternity ! — and that he would soon be dead ! — and that he 
who believed in Jesus Christ, though he were dead yet shall he 
live — and whosoever liveth and believethin Christ shall never die, 
and put the question to him, "Believest thou this V He appeared 
to be struck with the words, and asked where they could be found ; 
I told him in the eleventh chapter of John. He immediately went, 
dragging his massy chains across the room ; took his Bible, found 
the place, turned down the leaf, and said he would look at it. I 
asked him to repent of his sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

On the 9th day of July a house was hired on a lease for one year, 
at a rent of two hundred and fifty dollars, with a view to change 
the use of the property and character of its occupants, situated at 
the corner of Southark and Gardner streets, and which for years 
had been one of the worst houses in the place, if not in the world. 
Our brother Robert Wilson is the lessee. The dance hall was 
immediataly partitioned oft', and a part of it used as a religious 
Reading Room. 

This is one of the most interesting and important establishments 
of the kind in the world. It seems to me that nothing could be 
better adapted to the suppression of vice and iniquity, which stalk 



25 

through the streets with brazen front at noonday, than the judicious 
management and diligeut use of this properly It comes directly 
to the point. And if rightly and perseveringly improved, must in 
the nature of things have a favourable effect upon the miserable 
state of society in that part of the city. 

The circumstances connected with our getting possession of this 
house were very remarkable. 

After a Religious Reading Room had been the subject of con- 
versation and prayer in the midst of a private circle of christian 
friends composed chiefly of our respected sisters in the truth, w l o 
belong to the Boston Female Society for Missionary purposes, it 
was mentioned by brother Bingham that there was a house at West 
Boston to be let, which would answer very well for- such an estab- 
lishment. Accordingly, on the 27th of June we went into that 
part of the city in search of suitable accommodations for such an 
Institution. We were told this house had just been let for a dance 
hall. In two minutes after, we met the owner and ascertained 
from him the fact that it was not actually engaged, but that he 
was then come up to close the conversation upon that subject with 
the applicant, who evidently would, and was at that moment 
waiting to obtain it, at almost any rent, for the purposes of a dance 
hall, and such scenes of iniquity as are usually connected with 
such places. We immediately interfered, and obtained the refusal 
of the house at a reduced rent. A subscription was drawn up and 
recommended by the Rev. Mr. Jenks, stating our object, and ap- 
plication was made to several gentlemen in the city, who highly- 
approved our design, and promptly covered almost the whole of 
the rent, by donation, on condition there should be a loss as we ex- 
pected there necessarily would be, in consequence of the degra- 
ded and miserable state of society with which it is surrounded — 
Facts have verified our apprehensions. When we came to make 
application for respectable tenants, the local situation of the house 
was an insurmountable objection on the part of those who wanted 
to hire it. Several gentlemen who were pleased with the house, 
and would have taken it at the full amount of rent, if it had been 
situated in a good neighbourhood, declined engaging it solely on 
that account; and one person who actually did agree to remove 
into it with his family, was prevented, and gave it up for the same 
reason. Owe important fact which ought to be known, is fully es- 
tablished by the efforts which have been unsuccessfully made to 
let this house, viz : The owners of houses in Southark-street and 
its immediate vicinity, where they bring enormous rents, must suf- 
fer in their property from the dreadful state of society there, unless 
they facilitate by the use of their interest, the practice of the most 
abominable iniquity and awful scenes of pollution and misery.— 
Christians, friends, and citizens of Boston ! What shall we say to 
these things? What can we say to these things at the bar of the 
Judge of the universe, if we do not incessantly cry against the 
abominations of the land, and through fear, endeavour to save some, 
pulling them out of the fire. Soon after the house was secured 
and reading room opened, the Rev. John Gahpff. a Presbyterian 
4 



26 

Minister from Ireland, arrived with his family at our city and re- 
moved into it, a part of which he still occupies. How remarkable, 
mv brethren, are the providences of God in regard to this whole 
undertaking. No sooner had the house been obtained in answer 
to prayer, but the Lord places a Minister of the Gospel, through the 
influence of that property in the midst of a neighbourhood emphatic- 
ally denominated the place where Satan's seat is. I have never sus- 
pected myself of enthusiasm on any subject, but I must acknowl- 
edge that I do not recollect when my mind has been so much 
affected, and feelings interested in any providential occurrence as 
the obtaining of this house, and the establishment there of a Re- 
ligious Reading Room. I felt a travel of soul, a weight of care 
and responsibility that was unutterable ! Yet I was supported in 
the hope and encouraged by the belief that God would in some 
way or other succeed our efforts to bring about a change in the use 
of that property, and cause his people to dwell there who would 
diffuse a beneficial influence around the place. And were it possi- 
ble and proper for me to relate all the exercises of my mind, and 
describe all the circumstances attending the occupancy of this 
property, I am persuaded you would say the linger of God has 
pointed out to us the use of this house ; the hand of God hath se- 
cured it to us ; and the arm of the Lord will yet be seen and pow- 
erfully felt in the beneficial results of these labours. 

But the most important question yet remains to be discussed, viz : 
What has been, and what is likely to be the moral influence of these 
proceedings upon the people in that vicinity ? I answer precisely 
the same as might be expected upon any people sunk in ignorance, 
vice and misery. The same measures are to be used with this part 
of society here, as ought to be used for the instruction and conver- 
sion of the heathen in Asia or Africa. And the same results are 
to be looked for. The only important difference between the 
heathen here and the heathen there is, that greater will be the con- 
demnation of these than of those; if these reject the gospel and 
die in a state of impenitence and unbelief; and greater is the res- 
ponsibility of christians on the part of unbelievers here, than it 
can be on account of the heathen in foreign countries. We must 
not only pray for a revival of religion in the conversion of sinners, 
but we must do something towards the work before we can expect 
the Lord will hear our prayers and bless the labour of our hands. — 
It is not merely in proportion to the frequency or fervency of our 
prayers, but in proportion to our works combined with our prayers, 
and a humble dependence on the grace of God to succeed the la- 
bour of our hands, that he makes us really, if not apparently 
successful in building up his cause and promoting the gospel of 
his Grace in the world. These principles have been illustrated in 
the Reading Room at West Boston, so far as we have practised upon 
them. Go among the people there and you will rind enough to do, 
and see enough to satisfy you that your labour is not in vain in the 
Lord. 

A few extracts from my Journal will confirm the correctness and 
show the importance of these remarks. 



On the 21st March Mr. Bingham and myself laboured in the A. 

M. among the people at West Boston, conversed with a Mr. , 

who told us he had kept one of those houses for twenty years, but 
that he was sick of it and agoing to leave that course of life. Mr. 
B. exhorted him to prepare to meet his God. The old man ap- 
peared hardened in sin ; yet uneasy and dissatisfied with his man- 
ner of life. We give him a Christian Almanack, which was welt 
received, and our reproofs and exhortations treated even bj' such a 
man with attention and respect. 

March 26. Found much satisfaction in collecting the people to- 
gether in the stores at West Boston, and reading tracts and short 
sermons to them. 

April 2. Mr. B and myself spent some time in conversation at 

Mrs. , who is, with her husband, a professor of religion.— 

Met Mr. there who owns a large property in that neighbour- 
hood. He conversed freely and friendly with us and promised us ev, 
ery facility in his power to further the objects of our labour. 
Prayed during the interview. 

April 6. An interesting day in our labours at the west part of 
the city. 

16. Had much interesting conversation with Mr. ■, who 

said he was a mason by trade. He declined having prayers in his 
house, on account of the place being unsuitable for such an exer- 
cise. At the same time he observed that he approved highly of the 
preaching of the gospel, in the Mission house, and was willing to 
subscribe three or four dollars for the support of the minister. I 
asked him if he expected to pay his ministerial subscription by the 
fruits of an house unsuitable for prayer ; and reasoned with him 
upon the absurdity and wickedness of his conduct. He evidently 
felt remorse of conscience. I endeavoured to show him the in- 
consistency of his principles and character ; that sin involved its 
votaries in a thousand difficulties^aud that my advice to him was, 
he had better extricate himself from his present situation as soon as 
possible. He said it was wrong, but there always had been and 
always would be such houses kept. I replied, that if it were 
wrong, let who would keep them, I hoped that he and I should 
keep clear of them. 

He said you are right gentlemen. -I will leave this place. I be- 
lieve the resolution was formed under the influence of that conver- 
sation and soon carried into effect. 

July 22. Attended at the Heading Room. Ten or twelve per- 
sons present at different times during the exercises there. Read 
with some apparent good effect, a, part of the 6th and 7th Chap- 
ters of the Book of Proverbs, also a passage in the iii. of Titus ; 
made some remarks upon the description the apostle there gives of 
our state as sinners— foolish — disobedient — deceived, he. — as ap- 
plicable to the state of society there, particularly so — and then 
directed their attention to the love and kindness of God our Sav- 
iour in the gospel of his mercy and grace, with some apparent 
good effect. 

Jely 24. Found one young woman waiting at the door x)f the 



28 

h 

Reading Room, as I went to open it, this morning. >She discovered 
an anxious state of mind. The place has been well attended to- 
day with inquirers, if not after the way of life and salvation, at 
least, how they may escape the staQe of sin and misery in which 
they are there involved. 

27. Attended daily the Reading- Room through the week. Had 
much interesting conversation with the poor and wretched who 
came frequently into the place. 

Aug. 5. Eight persons attended for an hour or more to the rea- 
ding of the scriptures and other religious exercises. The state of 
society here is most awful. Robbery and fighting among men and 
women are very common, both day and night. There is certainly 
a great door opened here for usefulness, and it might be an ef- 
fectual one, if the people of God would step in and improve it. 

23. Two, young men were induced by conversation in the Reading 
Room to leave that neighbourhood, and I hope from the apparent 
effect it had upon their minds will leave that kind of society for- 
ever. — One week seven were induced to take a similar course : 
And many individuals from time to time have been persuaded 
away in a manner calculated to prevent their return, and to do 
them permanent good. 

Sept. 5. This establishment has not been \vithout opposition 
from its enemies. This evening a very serious disturbance occur- 
red. Stones or hard substances were thrown, several times, with 
great violence against the house. One of these was directed at 
the people in the Room through the window. The Rev. Mr. Gam- 
ble was sitting on the seat just by the place where the stone struck, 
It came with great force — broke three squares of glass ; but as a 
kind providence directed, it struck the bar of the sash and fell 
to the gt\)und. Had it gone one inch higher or lower it must have 
struck our Brother directly on the back of his head T and the con- 
sequences would have been very serious, and perhaps fatal to his 
life. What a remarkable preservation ! An enemy was permitted 
to throw the stone, but he had no power to guide it. Unerring 
goodness preserved the life of our Brother. 

On the 24th and 25th of Oct. the Reading Room exhibited a very 
pleasing and interesting scene. It was found that many persons in 
the neighbourhood were destitute of Bibles. A supply was pro- 
cured ; and the Rev. Messrs. Jenks, Rossiter, Bingham and my- 
self, attended the distribution of them from that place. 

The poor and needy were collected together, and during the 
two days, ninety-one Bibles and Testaments, a donation chiefly 
from the Massachusetts Bible Society, were given to the ignorant 
and wretched inhabitants of that vicinity. These pleasing servi- 
ces were attended with prayer, exhortation, and mr.ch appropriate 
advice and interesting conversation with the grateful recipients. 

The Reading Room has, also, been a mean of facilitating the 
efforts which are making to improve the condition of the coloured 
people in the city. On the 8th of Nov. a society was formed, 
after sundry previous meetings, in the Reading Room, called the 
Wilberforce Society, the object of which is to rnc^rnge and &s*« 



29 

sist the people of colour to learn trades ; and to promote their 
improvement generally. The Cooper's business is already estab- 
lished with a view to that object, and several boys are learning to 
work at that employment. A primary school, supported at the 
publick expense is kept in the Reading Room by Miss Jeffries, a 
woman of colour belonging to Rev. Dr. Baldwin's church, com- 
posed of children picked up in that neighbourhood, and drawn out 
of the most degraded and wretched situations. A Sabbath School 
for adults is also taught there. A Sabbath School lor coloured peo- 
ple has likewise been taught at the north part of the city by our 
Brother P^dward Smith, under the patronage of this Society, a re- 
port of the state of which has been communicated by the Super- 
intendant.* Many tender and affecting scenes have occurred during 
our labours among this portion of society : — Some times at the 
sight of the sick and miserable; some times at funerals; and at 
other times in witnessing the hardness and unfeeling hearts mani- 
fested in the abandoned lives of once apparently delicate and well 
bred females. 

O ! it is enough to affect the heart of a stone to witness the 
scenes of iniquity which are committed in our city. One case 
of an amiable youth, educated at a respectable Acadamy in Essex 
County in this stale, was peculiarly affecting. During her linger- 
ing sickness she manifested the most distress of mind I ever wit- 
nessed, on account of her past conduct, and died overwhelmed 
with the mv)?t poignant regret : but of doubtful repentance. 

I have attended most o( the monthly prayer-meetings — continued 
my meeting at the Sail-loft, in the vicinity of Fort-Hill, on LordV 
day evenings — occasionally associated with the Rev. Mr. Jenks and 
others, in religious meetings, under the BetheTFlag — visited the 
Penitent Females' Refuge, and regularly performed my duties as 

* Brother Smith observes, in his communication to the Society, respecting 
the school in Robertson's Alley, M It is now almost twelve months since the 
voice of prayer has been heard in the School Room every Sabbath, and the 
children, with adults, have assembled for instruction. The largest number 
that we have had since our last report, at any one time, is thirty-five. The 
whole number that we have on our roll is sixty-one. From that number, one 
has died; a man about thirty years of age. He bore his last sickness with 
Christian fortitude, and appeared to be perfectly resigned to the will of hea- 
ven. He, I believe, gave good evidence to all in the neighbourhood, that he 
died a Christian. Thus he has gone where he needs no more Sabbath School 
instructions. Since this school commenced, there has been a weekly school 
for the children supported by the town, and i? under the direction of the 
School Committee. It is kept in the same room that we have for the Sabbath 
School. The Instructress is a professor of Religion, and closes her school 
with prayer. Our school has been visited by several gentlemen. Among 
the number, was Deacon Moses Grant, who appeared to take a jreat interest 
in the school. He made us a present, to purchase some tickets and small 
books for Rewards. Mr. Henry J. Olivkr has taken a deep interest in the 
school, and has visited it more or less ever since we commenced. It is now 
under his direction for a few months, and I hope it may be more prosperous 
that we may in future have something more pleasing to state to the Society. 
" From your Humble Servant, 

-EDWARD SMITH. » 



30 

Chaplain of the State Prison. The limits of this commuication do 
notjjpermit me to remark particularly upon these services. I would, 
however, observe that, there is evidently an increasing attention 
to the Gospel, among the Convicts in the State Prison. The Ser- 
vices in the Chapel are attended with interest. More than twenty 
of the Prisoners, by their diligence in business, redeeming time for 
that purpose, associate daily, for prayer and exhortation, in 
a room by themselves; and are desirous of distinguishing them- 
selves by a conversation and a deportment becoming the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ. 

Before I close this already too protracted Report, it may not be 
improper for me to say a few things relative to the work which is 
before us, and the future operatioas of this Society. 

First The preaching of the Gospel is the great mean, according 
to the appointment of Heaven, by which sinners are reconciled un- 
to God. We should prudently do every thing in our power to pro- 
mote this work — and that whether in large or small assemblies. — 
It is an erroneous opinion that the gospel cannot be preached, ex- 
cept Meeting-houses first be built and great congregations establish- 
ed. Let us collect the people together in private or public houses, 
and gratefully improve such opportunities as Divine Providence 
may afford us, to shew unto few or many the path of life- To point 
them to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. 

Second. In this work, so far as we, unitedly are concerned, spe- 
cial reference should be had to the condition of the poor, forlorn 
and outcast of society. Let no one object that this is a low and 
servile work. " It is a great thing," says an eminent Theologian, 
" to preach the Gospel any where," to any people. And in my 
opinion, the more ignorant, vicious and miserable the people, the 
more especially should our attention be directed to that people, and 
unremitted our exertions for their reformation. Never give up the 
case of a single individual as hopeless. The grasp of the Lion of the 
tribe of Judah can arrest the prey from the mighty, and the lawful 
captive shall be delivered. Let as then go to their houses, carrying 
the reproofs and instructions of the Scriptures to the haunts of 
vice and iniquity, and its consolations to the abodes of penitent 
wretchedness, from which poverty ami shame prevent the misera- 
ble occupants from going to places where the Gospel is preached, 
and its Sacraments administered. Many of those poor forlorn crea- 
tures would often listen to your instructions, and their countenan- 
ces brighten at the annunciation of pardon through the merits of a 
compassionate Redeemer, conferred upon the wicked and unright- 
eous, when they forsake their thoughts and ways, and return to the 
Lord for mercy and salvation. 

Third. Constant exertions should be made to save the children 
from temptation, idleness, and iniquity. Evil communications cor- 
rupt, even, good manners. I have no doubt many a child has been 
io^t upon the Hill through the criminal neglect of the people of 
God. And be assured many more will he lost there if we neglect 
our duty in this respect. I know of no objects of usefulness in 
which we can more successfully engage than to snatch these ten- 



31 

der flowers from the devouring flames. O ! my friends', do not 
leave these dear children for whom I now plead in their present 
situation— you can help them — you must help them. And could 
you see them I know you would help them. Come, go with us and 
visit them. Let us see that they go to schools, to Sabbath Schools., 
and to meeting— that they hare places for service and to learn 
trades, &c. The best way to bestow your charity upon the poor 
is to give them useful employment. Teach them the value of 
time and property, and to live by the industry of their own hands- 

Fourth. In addition to the meetings in the Reading Room, let it 
be daily occupied from the time the primary school is dismissed 
until 9 o'clock in the evening, as a place of religious instruction for 
adults. It is an advantageous post. It is now and might be ren- 
dered still more so, a terror and dread to the wicked. Many youth 
and citizens and sailors who pass by that way might be inclined to 
listen to the words of life and turn away from the paths of death. 
If it could be known that there was a religious meeting held in that 
Room every night in the week the effects would soon be visible 
upon the state of society in that part of the city. 

Fifth. Exertions might be advantageously made by this Society^ 
especially though the medium of the Reading Room, to accommo- 
date seamen with suitable Boarding Houses, and induce them to 
save their wages, avoid bad company, form connexions and live 
respectably in the world. Some person should be employed to 
visit all the vessels in our harbour, and on every arrival be on 
board as soon as the custom-house officers are ; converse with the 
Captain and Officers — get the confidence of the Sailors — see that 
such as would associate with respectable people had every facility 
afforded them to such an intercourse. In performing such services 
as those in which brother B. and myself have been unitedly engaged,, 
and much of the service here narrated is to be considered in that 
point of view, in which he has often stood in the front of battle 
and fearlessly attacked the consciences and crimes of the wicked,, 
and the services here recommended it is particularly desirable that 
they should be undertaken in union with other societies of a simi- 
lar tendency, that the servants of the Lord might go out, at least, 
two bv two. In such cases the prospects of success would be great. 

Sixthly. Encourage by our individual influence correct Disci- 
pline in the Churches. This is a very important subject in relation 
to these labours. 

If these things are duly attended to, it is not a vain confidence to 
expect that we shall meet some of the objects of our pity and 
subjects of our care in a state of future blessedness — prepared by 
our humble efforts being made efficient through the influences of 
the Holy Spirit to join the song of the redeemed in glory : — Unto 
him that hath loved us'and washed us from our sins in his own blood 

Brethren, time is short ! The year on which we have just entered 
is short — life itself is too short to accomplish the work before us, 
L2t every heart be warm, and everv hand diligent. Amen. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



SINCE the foregoing communication was written the state of 
things at West-Boston is increasingly favourable. A large house 
situated on the corner of Southark and Garden streets, nearly 
opposite the Reading Room, has been totally changed as to the 
character of its occupants: and a School established in the front 
shop which used to be much resorted to for ardent spirit and loose 
company. The feelings of the publick are more alive, and the 
prayers and labours of the pious more abundant, in relation to the 
state of society on the "Hill" as it is sarcastically and vulgarly called, 
than at any former period since the attention and efforts of a por- 
tion of the community have been specially directed to that object. 

I regret extremely that the Ministers of the Gospel of all de- 
nominations, and christians generally, do not take a different view 
of the evils here referred to, and their appropriate remedies, than 
what some of them have hitherto done. With a view to encour- 
age the friends already engaged, and to interest others in the same, 
good work, I would respectfully invite the attention of the publick 
to a few extracts from the life of the Rev. Dr. Scott, in relation 
to his labours of a similar character. 

Before I introduce these extracts, I take leave to make one re- 
mark, and from my connexion with the State Prison, as Chaplain of 
that Institution, and labour, among the poor and wretched since 
my residence in this city, I hope I shall not be thought intrusive 
when I apprise the reader that my judgment upon this subject is 
certainly entitled to some consideration. I do therefore say, 
in so many words, my opinion decidedly is, that the sink of iniquity 
-at West Boston is the most prolific source of pauperism and crime 
that can be found in the state of Massachusetts. 

Dr. Scott, speaking in relation to the Lock Hospital says: — 

u On my return home from one of my irregular excursions, in 
September, 1785, 1 found a letter from the Secretary of the Lock 
Hospital, written in the name of several governors, saying, that it 
had been resolved to appoint a person to (he otftce of morning 
preacher in the chapel, and visiting chaplain to the patients ; that, 
from what they had heard concerning me, they were of opinion 
that I should be a very suitable person for the situation ; and that 
it was their request that 1 would come to London, and give them 
the opportunity of hearing me. Nothing could be more contrary 
to my own views of what my peculiar talent, whatever it was, 
qualified me for, than this proposal— except as the poor patients 
were concerned. I therefore wrote a very plain answer, stating 
my views of the gospel, and my determination to speak my mind 
iti the plainest language, wherever I might be called to preach ; 
rind my consciousness of being totally destitute of those attractions 



33 

of manner and elocution, which such a situation demanded. My 
friends, who afterwards saw the letter, approved it much, except 
the last clause, in which 1 consented to come and preach, if the 
governors still desired it. — Accordingly I did go, and preached two 
sermons, in as plain and faithful a manner as 1 possibly could ; with- 
out attempting any thing different from my homely style in other 
places. I really thought that this specimen would be sufficient ; 
and I hoped good might be done to some individuals, by such ad- 
dresses delivered in that place. 

"In a few weeks the election took place: no other person was 
proposed ; and I was appointed, with only three opposing voices. 
This was unexpected ; and 1 saw more and more reason on every 
consideration and inquiry, to conclude that, if I acceded to this 
appointment, I should be plunged into difficulties and trials of a 
most dismaying nature. Yet I did not dare to give a direct refusal, 
without taking further advice on the subject. It might be an open- 
ing to more enlarged usefulness: and my own personal feelings 
must not be allowed much weight in such a case. 

W 'I did not give my answer to the governors of the Lock till the 
last day, and almost the last hour, allowed me for deliberation. 

" Whatever others judged, my own people, who were most at- 
tached to me, and most grieved to part with me, were convinced 
that I was called by providpnee to remove, and that Ldid my duty 
in complying with it. I am not, however, myself to this day satis- 
lied on the subject. — When I consider what a situation I inadver- 
tently rushed into, I fear I did not act properly, and I willingly 
accept all my unspeakable, mortifications and vexations as a merciful 
correction of my conduct, which, though not, in one sense, inconside- 
rate, yet shewed strange inattention to the state of parties, and other 
circumstances at the Lock; which, had I duly adverted to them. 
would have made me think it madness to engage in such a service. 

" I had indeed imagined that I should, without much difficulty, pro- 
cure a lectureship on the Sunday afternoon or evening, and per- 
haps one on the week-day ; and I stood ready for any kind or degree 
of labour to which I might be called. But, whilst almost all my 
brethren readily obtained such appointments, I could never, during 
the seventeen years of my residence in town, procure any lecture- 
ship, except that of St. Mildred"? Bread Street, which, in a manner, 
came to me, because no other person thought it worth applying 
for. 

" Almost my whole comfort, as a minister, arose from my labours 
in the hospital, which, with all the disgusting circumstances of the 
service, were far more pleasing and encouraging to me, than preach- 
ing in the chapel. I constantly attended twice in the week, each 
time preaching first in the women's wards, and then in the men's.— 
I took the plainest portions of scripture, and spoke in a strain of 
close address to the conscience, and altogether in a manner, which 
1 could never equal in any other place ; and so as always to fix the at- 
tention, and often greatly to affect the hearts, of my poor profli 
gate auditors. I concluded each address with an appropriate prayer 
J was restricted by no rules: indeed 1 could not have arte'/ to rm 

5 



34 

own satisfaction, had any been prescribed : but I did the very best 
that I could. 

"I soon perceived the plan, and indeed the institution itself, to 
be utterly incomplete, as far as the female patients were concerned. 

r. Amidst all my difficulties, therefore I formed the plan of an 
asylum. — It often appeared to me that it must be given up for want 
of money to defray the expenses. For a long time the only return 
I met with for my assiduity was censure, even from quarters from 
which I least expected it : but I trust several immortal souls have 
been, and will be saved by means of the institution. I cannot 
doubt that the very opposition at first made to it by some friends of 
the Magdalen, who afterwards favoured it, occasioned some impor- 
tant improvements in the management of that charity." 

For several years he attended daily (without any remuneration,) 
to conduct family worship, and give religious instruction in the 
house ; and he constantly had a servant in his family taken from the 
asylum The reports, drawn up by him, detail many instances of 
those who were not only reclaimed and restored to society, but evi- 
dently converted to God by the means thus used; and who shewed 
this by a long course of consistent conduct, — terminating, in sev- 
eral cases, in a Christian and happy death. — An useful bint to more 
than one description of persons. It should be remembered that it 
comes from one, who had ample opportunity of knowing the truth 
of what he asserts. 

"By no means let come to London, if you can help it. 

1 look upon the young women who come to London for places, (a 
few prudent and clever ones excepted,) just in the light I do upon 
the cattle that come to Smithiield market : they come to be a prey to 
the inhabitants. I wonder any of those who have not very prudent 
and friendly connexions escape prostitution. At every offence, 
girls are turned out of doors with a month's wages, often in the 
evening, and at an hour's warning. They have lodgings to seek: 
a set of wretches let lodgings, who make it their study to betray 
them into situations from which few escape. Often their clothes 
are stolen : if not, they are pawned for money to pay expenses 
and in a few weeks they are thus stripped of apparel and can go to no 
place at all. In short, dangers are innumerable, and the number 
that, without any such previous intention, are seduced and become 
prostitutes and perish without any regarding it, is incredible. It 
is shocking to me beyond expression : and I think I should leave 
London with pleasure, for this-single circumstance, did not a sense 
of duty at present detain me: but perhaps that will not long be 
the case. — But all will be well, and will end well, for them that 
trust in and serve God. 

" I can form no manner of conclusion whether this removal will 
be an advantage or disadvantage to my secular interest. However I 
have acted according to my judgment and conscience,and find no dif- 
ficulty in leaving the event to him who says, seek first the kingdom of 
God, «K'. The Sunday morning congregations are large, and many 
of them persons of rank and fortune, who yet approve of our un- 
fashionable doctrines. 1 preach likewise every other Wednesday 



Jo 

evening, and every Friday evening to considerable numbers, at 
stated times in the week 1 visit the patients, explain the scriptures 
and pray with them. They are in general of the most wretched 
and abandoned of the human species, many of them common pros- 
titutes : yet remembering that Jesus himself disdained not to preach 
to such, and told the proud pharisees, that the publicans and harlots 
entered into the kingdom of heaven before them, 1 take pleasure in 
this work. and expect much good from it ; and 1 find the poor wretches 
exceedingly attentive, and very much affected. Jesus Christ is abU 
to save to the uttermost all them that come to God by him ; and him thai 
cometh unto nun, he will in no wise cast out. Nothing is wanting but 
to convince them all of their need of such a Saviour. 

"1 am surrounded," he savs, ik daily with pretty much the same 
sort of company that my Master was, Luke xv 1. The Lord grant 
that 1 may behave among them in some good measure as he did, and 
.speak to them with the same success ! Most people here are very 
unbelieving about it, and think no good can be done : but 1 am 
enabled to expect great things from the power, mercy, and love of 
Christ. 1 would believe, and hope to see the glory of God in their 
conversion. Indeed I do see some good fruits; and though there 
are many disappointments, and I am often ready to be discouraged, 
yet upon the whole I think I may confidently say, good is done 
and. if God help me to persevere, and neither faint in, nor grow 
weary of, nor act inconsistently with, my work and office, 1 trust 
I may expect a good harvest at last." 

If the Directors will substitute the phrase t; Penitent Female's 
Refuge" 1 for u Lock Hospital" they will find many appropriate and 
useful remarks in the preceding extracts from Dr. Scott's journal 
of his labours at that institution. And the friends of missionary ex- 
ertions in this city may, also, find much to support and encourage 
them in the work in which they are engaged ; and to convince others 
that it is not a low and disreputable thing to do good to the 
wretched and miserable portion of any community. We would al 
so, remind our brethren that Paul says, on one occasion, I magnify 
mine office — not myself So ministers and Christians, while they 
glory to suffer reproach for the sake of Christ, should not be in- 
different to the estimation in which their standing and labours are 
viewed by their brethren and the world, for the sake of their ojjici, 
and profession , 

Vv'e value the good opinion of others, but when that desirable 
object comes in competition with duty to the young and rising gene- 
ration and the immortal interests of dying sinners around us, no one 
can hesitate a moment, as to the sacrifice. — A well bred family are 
surrounded with opulenceJiteratnre, and every external accomplish- 
ment which could render them happy at home and respected abroad 
— the children are very numerous and beautiful; the joy and delight 
of their parents — the promise and hope of their country — they are 
remarkable for their arniableness, urbanity and even religious de- 
portment. But a poisonous reptile makes his appearance in the 
house ! What would be the sensations of the whole family at the 
sight of such a monster? Horror! horror! And vet the creature 



36 

is suffered to live, and crawl from room to room about the house. 
He is even caressed and admired, especially by the children and 
younger members of the family. By and by his imperceptible, deadly 
bite is seen in the odious sickness and shocking" deaths of several of 
the household. This creates no alarm ! An awful delusion takes 
place and a great majority become fascinated with their own de- 
struction. A few, however, see the danger, lament the crime and 
calamity, and endeavour to effect the destruction of the monster. 
But how shall it be done ? — See that anxious father — that agonizing- 
mother — that affectionate brother — that amiable sister covered with 
shame and astonishment at the disgrace and misery of their own 
relations. They cry aloud for help : Who will answer? Let the 
rulers of the people — the Ministers of religion — the pious of all 
denominations and every citizen of respectability promptly and ef- 
fectively answer, there is no " Hill /" 

These crimes and calamities exist to an alarming extent. And I 
hope that it will not be thought indelicate, if the mother in her over- 
whelming distress should cry even to her bitten children to flee from 
the face of so horrible a serpent! And unceasingly exhort arid per- 
suade them to repent, and apply by faith to the Balm of Gilead 
and the Physician there, whose precious blood cleanseth from all 
sin ! This remedy has been proved and found efficacious in a num- 
ber of cases, precisely of the character of those here referred to. 
Indeed, the charge of indelicacy rests upon those whose indifference 
can suffer such a state ot things to exist among us, and not upon those 
whose anxious cares and persevering labours are directed to the re- 
moval of them. The evil exists — that it should be suffered by anj- 
civilized community, I acknowledge is indelicate— It is cruel ! — It is 
horrible ! Every feeling of humanity recoils at the sight ! But so 
long as it does exist, and so long as compassion and benevolence can 
interest the feelings of the human heart, those who cannot bear the 
evil should at least be exonerated from reproach on account ot their 
efforts to remove it. I hope therefore no civil magistrate, no min- 
ister of the Gospel, no professor of Religion, no citizen of respecta- 
bility and influence will rest easy, so long as ONE SUCH HOUSE 
is suffered to remain in this city. 



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